Happy Birthday Roni!

September 7th marked Roni's ascension into year 28 of her high energy filled life. We were thrilled to be a part of the annual celebration. I am not sure how this tradition was started, but for some years now Roni always holds the festivities at the popular Italian restaurant Bucca de Beppo. Guests sit around a large table in the aptly named "Pope Room" and feast on dishes that are way to large to ever be considered acceptable. But alas, they are. We had a great time and managed to even get a photo, which we never do!
Happy Birthday Roni!

The Blürg is going to get trashed!

I have been following Dana's blog for some time now. It's delightful. It was through her that I learned about a new trend in wedding photography called "Trash-the Dress" henceforth called TTD.

What do TTD photos look like? Well here are just a couple examples

A stunning shot by (and in) the water

I love the color of her dress just pops out of the photo. Very intense

I think it would be fun to run through the snow in a wedding dress

As you may have gathered TTD photos feature brides (and grooms too) in situations where their dress could get...um....trashed. Why would anyone want to trash their dress? One school of thought is that you will never wear the dress again so why not get a unique artsy photo out of it. Another is why not just take some cool photos for posterity. Truth be told, your dress does not have to get trashed maybe just a little damp. I thought it sounded like fun.

Lucky for Chicago based photographer Jody Garland is building her very own TTD portfolio and is offering free TTD sessions to 10 lucky couples. I sent her an email and we have been selected. The location of the photos has yet to be finalized but she has some great ideas. Also I will not be wearing my actual wedding dress for two reasons.

1) They will most likely be done before the wedding and I do not want the Jürg to see me in my dress
2) My mom would probably kill me if I actually trashed my dress.

All is not lost however, for I do have an unused wedding dress hanging in my closet at home. I know that sounds weird, but being a product of private school education we were required to wear long white dresses for our graduation. We got a wedding dress on sale, but in the end I deemed it "too wedding dress like" (maybe because, it is!) and opted for a different one. It has been hanging there for almost eight years now. I cannot think of a better reason to bring it out than this. Now we just have to hope I still still fit in it! I can wear my high school prom dress (and have many times thank you) so there is hope!

I will certainly keep you updated as the details firm up. Whoo hoo!

Pre Cana Shout Out!

For the month of August Jürgen and I had the pleasure of spending our Thursday evenings at the Chateau du Lisa et Keith. They, along with power couple Mike and Christa, hosted a four week long marriage preparation class, otherwise know as Pre Cana. If you are to get married in the Catholic church you are required to attend Pre Cana classes. You can opt to do the whole “curriculum” during the course of one day, a weekend long retreat, or do as we did over the course of a month.

It was such a wonderful experience. As our lovely hosts said “this class is really a gift you are giving yourselves” and we really do treasure this gift. It was such a special time to spend together, reflect together and learn together. It also didn’t hurt that we got to spend our evenings with some kick-ass couples. Lisa and Keith, and Mike and Christa both have two daughters and are such lovely families. It was really inspiring to hear them talk about their marriages. We were joined by three other couples: Sara and Carl (to be wed in October at St. Clement…so soon!), Melissa and Scott (to be wed in January in Columbia South America…it will be so warm!), and Cristin and Ryan (to be wed in August at St. Clement…yay!). What a great group. Everyone was so funny, honest and open. They are all fantastic couples who will undoubtedly have beautiful weddings and a fantastic life together. Jürgen and I hope to organize a group outing soon!

I am kicking myself for not having brought a camera to capture a group shot. However I did find one image I felt best summed up the Pre Cana experience
Kinzie! While this is not a shot of the actual Kinzie, she certainly made our Pre-Cana classes exciting. For those of you who have not had the esteemed pleasure of meeting her just know she likes people, jumping on people and pre-cana.

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 6: Final Thoughts

They say success is in the details. I have to agree. While the major decisions of a wedding (who you will marry, when in will happen, where it will take place etc) are certainly the most important, it’s the little things that can truly make the day your own. As I go through this planning process I am realizing how important it is to let inspiration guide you when it comes to choosing these fine details. You can draw inspiration from all sorts of places. It’s helpful to flip through magazines and cut out images that strike you, think of your favorite colors and perhaps to try and incorporate them into the day, even the time of year could inspire your decision making process. I have tried my best to think of each element as a continuation of another, rather than separate entities. For example the invitations use the same color palette as our reception décor. I carry around a swatch of the bridesmaid’s dresses so the florist can match ribbons we use to their color. In the end I hope it will create for a cohesive “look” and a very thought filled event. Allowing inspiration to guide me has made this planning process a lot easier and way more fun.

Our initial source of inspiration came from the Chicago History Museum.

(I am thrown' up the west side represent. I am so street.)

It’s classic architecture, clean lines, and simple elegance is what struck us and what subsequently informed every decision we made thereafter. Hence, a good reason to choose a location first before deciding on any other decorative elements. The CHM definitely informed my flower choice, because while I have always loved Calla Lilly’s, I felt that a calla embodied the same classic beauty as our reception site.

Now it was time to choose a color palette. Or as they say in the bridal world “your colors.” It being a winter wedding I certainly wanted to use colors inspired by the season. Any sorts of reds or greens were vetoed immediately for fear of looking like a Christmas village.

Blue has always been my color of choice

But there are a plethora of blue hues out there and how was I ever to choose one? I thought about a champagne color...
or maybe even a chocolate brown (my mom did not approve of this idea)
(these collages were created on the ever so addictive Montage-a-google...yeah I have no life)

Instead of freaking out about it I decided to put it on the backburner and move forward. Inspiration found me in the form of a dress at Rebecca’s Bridal in Louisville, KY.

I decided to try on some wedding dresses with my mom while I was home. No pressure, no expectations. I had tried on maybe ten dresses and had found a few I liked when my delightful dress consultant brought me one final dress. She had clearly been inspired too! I put it on and instantly liked it, and in retrospect I think I “knew” right then. However I put three on hold to return at a later date, which ended up being the very next day. I nixed one right away and was down to two, although I knew my choice. My mom snapped some photos and they were quickly emailed to the people who mattered: my oh-so-fashion-forward brother Neill, my MOH Brittany (who forwarded them to her mom and sister), and my friends Katie and Jenn. The response was unanimous for dress #2. It was my dress and I would search no further. Now I cannot go into detail about the dress, as I do not want to diminish the dramatic power of “the big reveal” on the big day, plus Jürg wants to be totally surprised. I will say though that an element of the dress set off a light bulb in my mind. What about white, light silver and sapphire blue?


Perfect! Silver and blue have always been my favorite colors, I adore sapphire’s and what a lovely classic wintry combination! Eureka! I was beyond pleased with my choice.

In general the overall pallet will consist of mainly white and light silver, the sapphire will serve as more of a surprising accent.

My beautiful bridesmaids will be wearing sapphire blue dresses. It’s a color that looks good on anyone. They will not, however, all be wearing identical dresses. I prefer to mix things up. Here is a photo of one of the dresses in my chosen color (it appears brighter than it does up close and personal).


Along with the sapphire blue dresses some of the vases will be wrapped in deep blue ribbons. Here is the photo that inspired me (minus the brooch like thing)


The choosing of these colors helped me pick out our invitations. There are so many amazing invite options these days. With fanciful fonts, and adorable motifs it’s could be difficult to choose. Luckily I knew we wanted something very simple. Here is what we chose.

This is not the font we will be using, nor is in the same ink choice. Our ink is light silver; the paper is white with a light pewter border around the edge. It’s very classy and very wintry. We picked them from a delightful independently owned store in Louisville called Celebrations. It is the only place I looked as I am all about “freedom within boundaries.” We will also be working with them on our wedding programs. These have not been printed as we have yet to pick our music etc, but they do incorporate the blue in both the ribbon that binds them and the ink color. Pictures to follow along with updates on other little wedding details.

Thus concludes my multi-part series on wedding planning. Things are moving along smoothly as we enter the T-Minus 4 month mark. Time is flying by! The next steps to tackle are finalizing the wedding ceremony, the out of town gift baskets, figuring out the final menu, or yeah and the whole floor plan debate. That’s a whole separate entry!

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 5: Flower Power.

Flowers die.

This is my first thought when considering how important I want the flowers to be during the wedding and reception. Clearly I am not placing a lot of importance on the flora and fauna. Again I go back to the value of prioritizing. Our church is so stunning and our reception site is so elegant that neither Jurg nor I felt the need to overdo it on the flowers. However,
after calling several florists I learned that clearly there were people who place a great deal of importance on the budding beauties. Some of the minimums these places had were insane in my opinion. Did I mention flowers die? Luckily we met up with Rachel at Dilly Lilly. An adorable flower shop in Lincoln Park, steps away from St. Clement. I actually lived above Dilly Lilly for two years in college so it excites me to have a small personal connection with the place. Now, let's be clear even though I do not put flowers way up on my priority list that does not mean I do not have opinions about them.

I have always loved Calla Lilly's
I think they embody feel we want our wedding to have: simple, classic and elegant. They are so sleek and stand on their own so well and you need not hide them among any sort of "filler flowers."

Thus, the perfect choice for my bouquet, my bridesmaids, the boutonnieres and other centerpieces. Here are some pretty images.
So pretty and simple. Not to mention small....I do not want to be overwhelmed with a poufy bouquet. Heavens no.

I think the guys could get behind this.

You can't go wrong with a nice calla.

Too bad they are not so much in season around January rendering them more expensive than I hoped. Originally one way we were going to cut costs was to have different centerpieces at the reception. Some would be callas while others would have dusty miller and perhaps silver foliage. However after careful consideration I deemed this idea "to kitchy" and too "winter wonderland." We have now opted to incorporate other white flowers to not only offset some of the cost, but also to add more visual interest. The centerpieces will be low and made up a single flower. It suits my simple tastes beautifully. Of course calla will still be the main flower, she will just have to share the stage with a few others. Those may include:

White Hydrangea

White Orchids
White Ranaunculus
White Roses

There are a few others which have been suggested to me, but I am not sold. They are: white lilac, star of Bethlehem and white snapdragons.

I am very pleased with our choices and hope to donate the flowers at the end of the night to a nursing home, or someplace close by that can enjoy them longer than a few hours. Tis' the season as they say.

(P.S- For those of you who love flowers and would certainly put them at the top of their list I hope I didn't offend you!)

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 4: Sights, Sounds, Smells...

Once we had decided on our locations for our “Big Day” it was now time to work on the details. Now if you are wondering what my advice would be for this step (I know you are, I know you are!) it would be” Prioritize. Now is the time to determine what elements are most important to you in order to create your perfect wedding. For us it was the photography, the band and the food. Here is what we chose…

1) Kevin Weinstein Photography: Kevin served as the photographer for our friends Roni and Rick when they were married on August 13th 2006. I did not know Roni and Rick at the time, but I have seen the photos. The photos beautifully captured the "essence" of the day, so much so that I feel I was actually in attendance. Before I was ever engaged I knew I wanted Kevin to take my wedding photos, Jürgen felt the same way. This again hearkens back to the “going with your gut” feeling I propagate. We loved their photos, they loved working with Kevin, so we didn’t feel a need to look anywhere else. And with photos like these why would we?

One of the photos from their engagement session. Roni says this photo "looks like the picture in the frame when you buy a frame from Target."

Another engagement session photo. Seriously how beautiful is that?

Lovely wedding day photo, so very sweet.

They look so happy.

This is my friend Aine who recently got married and also used Kevin! Yay!


2) Although I will shamelessly admit that I am not a music person, one cannot deny the power of live music. We knew we wanted to have a band, and we hope it will provide for hours of uninterrupted dancing(get your dancing shoes broken in now folks…) However neither Jürgen nor I had any idea where to look for a great wedding band. I put Jürg in charge of this task as he is the designated "music snob" between the two of us. However, he was not working up to my standards in terms of swiftness, and I became a grade-A nag. After many, many days of goading Jürg to hop to it, he talked to his stage manger who had recently been married (and also had her reception at the History Museum). She told him about a band called the Chicago Catz, and according to her "people still ask about that band." A personal recommendation! I googled them right quick and was on the phone with Richie (aka Band Leader) in no time. He was friendly and even offered to stop by my house to personally drop off the band info and some demo CD's. I was able to listen to them that night and had no doubt they would be a fantastic addition to our wedding. They have the kind of energy and sound that you can't help but dance to, which is exactly what we want.
Here are some of the talented Catz. I wish I knew how to upload a sound clip, but I am just not that technically advanced. Check out their website www.chicagocatz.com

3) Blue Plate Catering: You have hopefully seen a few pf the photos I snapped during our tasting a few months ago. Those photos give you a hint of the yumminess Blue Plate provides. Chicago is a culinary mecca, and we are wanna be "foodies". Naturally the food was very important to us. We are striving to create a menu of familiar classics and more adventurous dishes. There will be three different "action stations" which will encourage you to mix and match to create unique flavor combinations and delectable experiences. It would be very hard to choose one caterer in a city that has so many amazing chefs, but luckily our reception site only allows you to choose from four preferred caterers. We chose Blue Plate for several reasons. 1) We had heard from our photographer (who has been to many many weddings) that they were great. 2) I had the chance to taste their food at a wedding event 3) the menus they proposed to us were the most sophisticated and unique 4) Kelly was so much fun to talk to and really helped us navigate through the uncharted territory of planning a wedding. Our menu is not yet set in stone and we look forward to having another tasting later this fall. I will snap some photos of the food during that time.

Thoughts on planning a wedding part 3: Location, Location, Location

I have been fortunate enough to travel to Europe several times, and it is inevitable that I will visit a historic cathedral or basilica during my travels. I have always enjoyed going inside houses of worship. It’s quiet, and there seems to be a common understanding between whoever is inside that you are standing on hallowed ground. Even if you don’t ascribe to that school of belief, I think you would have to be made of stone not to feel something while inside these grand structures. Chicago is a city of many churches, and many of them are just and grand and beautiful as those I have seen overseas. You can be walking down a residential street and out of nowhere appears a church. Sometimes I go inside as I appreciate the momentary respite from busy city life.

It was December of 2007 and I was in tech rehearsals for a holiday production I was working on. For those of you who are unsure what a tech rehearsals is just know they usually involve twelve hour days, lots of waiting under hot stage lights, and if your lucky only mild levels of chaos. All actors have a love/hate relationship with tech week. On one of our breaks I wanted to find a place of calm during the storm and I remembered a church around the corner. Despite the frigid temperatures outside I walked the few blocks to St. Clement Roman Catholic Church and let myself in. It was breathtaking. The only source of light was the multitude of flickering candles all around the sanctuary. Still they produced enough light to behold the splendor inside. The huge domes, the stunning stained glass rose windows, and the exquisite marble altars. I was alone and I felt like I was in a scene in a dramatic mystery movie. I sat quietly taking it all in. Letting the stress of tech melt away and I knew I have to bring Jürgen back here.

We didn’t even consider getting married anyplace else. Once we decided on a day we phoned St. Clement right away to see if our day was available. It was! However there were a few more important bits of info to find out before we made it the official site of our marriage sacrament. I am not Catholic (gasp!), I am an Episcopalian and some churches will not allow you be married if both parties are not baptized Catholic. Luckily St. C’s is a more forward thinking parish and they do not mind my Anglican ways. Also, it was very important to me that my first cousin, Reverend. Benjamin Robertson IV would be able to officiate my wedding, which again some churches do not allow. Again, major props to St. Clement for being so cool. So that is how an Episcopal girl ends up getting married in a Catholic church…anything is possible.
The next step now was the reception. Along with my original dream wedding of being married in a garden I always wanted it to be on the grounds of some grand historic home. Well there are not many of those in Chicago, so I needed to rethink my ideal reception site. I knew I wanted it to be in Chicago, and I didn’t want all my out of town guests to have to travel further out to the suburbs. I also wanted to keep the church and the reception site close by one another, because it after all it will be winter in Chicago. We both agreed that we wanted a site that was unique but also beautiful on it’s own, for I didn’t want to spend a lot of money gussying up the party space. I did a search online and looked through some magazines and came up with six possible reception sites. That seemed like plenty to me. One (Café Brauer) was not available, and Fulton’s on the River were difficult to Jürg on the phone, so they were crossed of. We visited the other four in this order.

1) The River East Art Center.
We visited the space during a gallery opening so we got to eat yummy passed bites and drink free wine. It is a very cool, open, modern space (plus!). Located near Navy Pier and the Chicago River (minus…not very close to our church). It would no doubt be a very cool spot for a reception, but we both felt it was a tad “too cool” for us. We are not trendy or cool people at all. Jürgen watches homestarr runner regularly, and I like to Google myself from time to time. Not trendy art gallery material at all. Next please.

2) The Ivy Room
Also a part of an art gallery but a very different feel. Located downtown off of the Mag Mile (minus, closer than the first but not as close as I would like), it’s a very simple warm space that overlooks an enclosed courtyard (plus!). Sadly the courtyard would not be open during our wedding (minus), but the tress would be lit up with Christmas lights and the old time lamp posts would be on, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere (plus!). Also, since it is privately owned we could have the space open as late as we wanted too (plus!). A downside though was it was the most expensive locale on our list (minus), and while it was simple and pretty it was perhaps borderline boring (kind of a minus). Still after we left we decided to keep it in the “to be considered” pile in our minds.
3) The Peggy Noterbaert Nature Museum
The museum is not far from St. Clement, which was certainly… a plus! It’s located in a beautiful area of Lincoln Park near the lake, and it’s certainly a unique space (plus!). Lots of exposed stone and glass. One cool perk you get when you host an event there is you have access to their butterfly haven, which houses over a hundred different species of butterflies. However the actual event room itself was totally underwhelming (minus), and it even had carpet (minus). Bleck (minus).
(it's a small photo but do you see the carpet?)

We knew right away this space was not for us. Like I said earlier, we didn’t want to spend a lot trying to make the space beautiful.

Now it was off to visit our fourth and final reception destination.

The Chicago History Museum. I had been intrigued by the museum from the moment I visited the webpage. The photos looked stunning, and I don’t know I just had a “feeling.” It is also in Lincoln Park and not far from our church of choice (plus!). It has stood for over a hundred years giving it the historic feel that I so love (plus!). As soon as we walked up the stairs and into the “American Room” we just…well we just knew. The first room was just stunning. Designed in old colonial ballroom style (I am not sure if that is a design term as I just made that up) there is a beautiful chandelier hanging in the center flanked on either side by beautiful columns and classic crown molding. A perfect spot to have cocktails and late bites.
This is Kelly Milam (now Cavanaugh!) our go-to gal at Blue Plate. She just got married at the CHM so I decided to use her photos for this entry! Yay Kelly!

You then travel through the doors into the Robinson gallery. It’s exactly how we want our wedding to feel: simple, classic and elegant. Lovely panels of stained glass designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Tiffany adorn the walls, and along the east side the walls are lined with windows over looking a beautiful plaza. This plaza will probably not be used as we are getting married during one of the coldest months, but it will still make for a lovely view.
This is one side of the Robinson room.
I love how the back looks like a grand old mansion!

More of the plaza and the museum.

We needed to look no further. We had found it. After only four places too, and that’s not a lot. Again, it’s all about knowing what you want, and trusting your gut. You will hear me repeat this over and over again. It’s sort of my mantra, and maybe I should make it my mantra for life. Hmmmm…..